FC København Make History

Congratulations to FC København for becoming the first Danish club through to the last 16 in the UEFA Champions League era. This goes down as one of their biggest successes in European club competition since they reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup (1991/92) prior to their merger.

Ah yes, the merger. Many don’t realize that FCK has only existed since 1992. FCK was formed when two separate clubs joined forces: Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) (which has been playing organized football since 1879 and is thus mainland Europe’s oldest football club) and Boldklubben 1903 founded not surprisingly in the year 1903. It was B 1903 that trounced FC Bayern München 6-3 on aggregate in the second round of the 1991/92 UEFA Cup to reach the quarter finals (the two-legged tie saw B 1903 romp to a 6-2 victory at home).

When the two clubs merged on July 1 1992, the new entity F.C. Copenhagen used B1903′s club license to play in the Danish Superliga championship and Europe, while KB has become the official reserve team. FCK can claim the most supporters in Denmark and has two nicknames with the fans — Byens Hold (The City’s Team) and Løverne (The Lions) with the latter forming a key aspect of the club logo.

I love a good underdog story and FCK are definitely in that category considering some of the giant clubs they could face in the Round of 16. I hope they can keep the core of their squad together through the January transfer window. In particular, three 25-year-olds will be ones to watch.

Left-back Oscar Wendt has been mentioned as a potential target for Tottenham and Liverpool. Star Senegalese striker (try saying that 3 times quickly!) Dame N’Doye has also been the subject of much speculation with Sampdoria and AZ Alkmaar in the mix. The other player that will be looked at is Danish midfielder Martin Vingaard. He scored a goal and set up another in FCK’s 3-1 win over Panathinaikos that sealed their berth in the Round of 16.